I believe that getting good at thinking together is an important goal to strive for. As teachers we need to help our students to develop the skills, dispositions and attitudes helpful to engage in thoughtful, productive conversation. The complexity of the world can lead adults to respond to problems in ways that are almost devoid

When school leaders think about teachers they may like to think their perspective (the perspective of a school leader) would be fair and accurate. My experience in understanding how people “think together” suggests that thinking interdependently requires truly seeking first to understand, as Stephen R. Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People challenges

According to Science Daily:“When it comes to intelligence, the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. A new study co-authored by MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Union College researchers documents the existence of collective intelligence among groups of people who cooperate well, showing that such intelligence extends beyond the cognitive abilities

Jeremy Rifkin is a best-selling author and one of the most popular social thinkers of our time. In his book: The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis he presents a picture of our current civilization and questions the future if, in fact, citizens of the world do not become

If we care about the education of today’s youth it behooves us to take adult learning seriously. We adults can learn our way into the future or we can hold onto the status quo in our classrooms/schools or we can defer to the massive network of sales people promoting a multitude of educational products. I

Most of us would likely agree that it is pretty easy to think with people who hold about the same set of thoughts we hold. Yet, truly thinking with others means thinking with those who might look at things very differently from you. When you effectively engage with others who think differently than you, you

I have had the good fortune to both write the foreword and contribute a chapter for this Teachers College Press book. The Foreword focuses on the value of “thinking together”. The chapter I wrote is titled: “Creating and Influencing Momentum: The Challenges and Power of Adults Thinking Interdependently”. Additionally, I work with Patricia Reeves with

I have been thinking a lot about what is takes to help adults develop the skills, dispositions and knowledge to intentionally think interdependently. Below, you will find some of my thoughts. Qualities of Effective Collaborators Actions to Positively Impact Your Skills Appreciate the nature of adult learning Learn from or revisit the work

As I read the introduction to Stephen Johnson’s new book, Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked Age, 2012 I find myself thinking about the interconnectedness of today’s outcomes to the work of many in the years past. In the process of setting up his book, Johnson retells about the story of the

Appreciate the nature of adult learning Embrace the uniqueness of each adult and interact in ways that sincerely appreciate and connect with the individual Celebrate the fact that your work requires effectively listening to and understanding the individuals you serve so that you can help them identify and connect with their specific growth Respect

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Many of you may have realized, to your chagrin, that the Xtranormal site has been shut down as of July 31st. I searched for alternatives and found Digital Films . I have only been playing around with it for a few hours, but have not noticed a feature that allows characters to speak typed text

One of my least favorite trends in education is hatin’ on PowerPoint. Visual presentation in and of itself isn’t the problem! A quick glance of Google search results for “PowerPoint meme” sums up the anti-PowerPoint narrative sweeping the web: PowerPoints can be dreadfully boring, and relying solely on teacher-centered instruction is problematic. That being

In this installment of One Idea With: Discovery Education Senior Vice President Scott Kinney interviews Dr. Latoya Dixon and Dr. Mike Waiksnis, Co-Principals of the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s Knox Middle School in North Carolina. Drs. Dixon and Waiksnis’ One Idea focuses on how their different personal and leadership styles support their work as co-principals. Watch the video below to learn